April 24, 2016

The Eurovision Song Contest


(May 10, 2016 – May 14, 2016)
 
Soon my favourite music event of the year is on air. My mom and I, we both have a special bond with the ESC for different reasons. Well first of all, we believe that music is the universal language and brings all kinds of people together. Talented, passionate and aspiring artists from the beautiful European countries come together for a week and share their music with the world. Some gifted with allot of talent, some less. But that’s not relevant. What matters is that they entertain us and make us happy. As a Lyricist, of course I listen to the song lyrics carefully and the ESC History proves that the winner songs are usually (not always!) songs with meaningful and emotionally touching messages.

The first time I watched the show was back in 1991. The National Swiss Winner was on her way to the International ESC which took place in Italy. Sandra Simo, a beautiful and talented young singer had actually bought her stage dress from my mom, where she used to work in a famous Fashion department store in Zurich.

Sandra Simos song “Canzone per te/A song for you” for Switzerland unfortunately only made the 5.place and the Winner was the beautiful Swedish singer Carola with “Captured by a storm wind“  

To this date Captured by a storm wind“ is one of our favorite ESC moments including the following songs/performances below. Years later my mom and I had again our own experience with the Eurovision Song Contest. This time we were fully involved in the creative phase of the preparation for one of the most talented Swiss artists, who was one of the ten finalists for the national show. It was a weekend that I will never ever forget. One of those sweet-bitter experiences that I have written about in my second book of my trilogy.

One of the sweet moments was meeting the singer Sandra Simo after more than a decade again. The show took place in the Italian part of Switzerland and Sandra was the commentator for the Swiss German TV. It was one of those days where you realize how time flies and also how little the world is. There is a say: You always meet twice!  
 

Sima & Sandra Simo-Studer, a decade later...

Here is a list of our favourite ESC songs of all time. Not all of them were winner songs. For example "A Million Voices" made second place last year. And even though we like the Winner song 2015 - Heroes performed by Måns Zelmerlöw, I just love Polina Gagarinas message. In my next post I will share our ESC HIGHLIGHT and ARTIST of all time!
 
Eurovision Song Contest 1991 - Sandra Simo (Switzerland)  5.Place


 

Eurovision Song Contest 1991 –Carola (Sweden) 1. Place

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 - Dana International (Israel) 1. Place
 
Eurovision Song Contest  1999 - Charlotte Nilsson (Sweden) 1. Place
 
Eurovision Song Contest  2005 - Elena Papaizou (Greece) 1. Place


Eurovision Song Contest  2009 - Aysel and Arash - Always (Azerbaijan) 3. Place


Eurovision Song Contest 2012 - Tooji "STAY" (Norway)
 
Eurovision Song Contest 2012- Loreen (Sweden) 1. Place
 
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices (Russia) 2. Place
 

If you want to find out more about our unforgettable Eurovision Song Contest Weekend and what happened read “Definition of Freedom”.